InterMedia Insights 5.30.2016

Hot Media Trends for May 30, 2016

Multitasking is on the rise among TV Viewers. Simultaneous usage of digital devices while watching TV — at least once a month — will grow to nearly 85% of all Internet users this year from around 80% a year ago, according to eMarketer. By 2018, this simultaneous usage is forecast to be nearly 92%. In 2016, eMarketer says 182.9 million Americans are using the Internet while watching TV at least once a month — and 146.9 million Americans use Internet-connected apps on their phone while they watch TV. There will be more distraction when it comes to which TV services are used as well. Cord-cutting is expected to hit 16% this year among all current pay TV customers who have traditional access to pay TV services. This will rise to 19% in two years. (Read More on MediaPost)

Google has made its final pitch to the U.S. Supreme Court about a lawsuit from a group of pay-per-click marketers that could determine the future of class action suits in the United States’ Ninth Circuit – home of Silicon Valley. The company wants the Supreme Court to review a decision that granted pay-per-click marketers class-action status in a long-running lawsuit. The marketers – including law firm Pulaski & Middleman and retailer RK West – allege that Google placed their ads on “low quality” sites. The battle began in 2009 when the marketers alleged that ads on Google’s AdSense for Domains and AdSense for Errors programs result in fewer purchases than ads on Google’s search results pages. (Read More on Response Magazine)

Consumers reached through several marketing channels buy more often from their favorite in-store and online retailers, says a new survey from digital marketing firm Fluent. The company surveyed 1,802 randomly selected Americans online in May 2016 and found that 62% of respondents who engaged with their favorite retailers across 10 or more channels reported making in-store purchases from them once a week or more. 49% said they make online purchases from these retailers once a week or more. Fluent found that traditional channels still offer the most reach: 40% of respondents reported having seen TV, print and online ads from their favorite retailers in the past month. 30% said they’d seen mobile notifications, e-mail newsletters, mobile shopping aps, FB posts from their favorite retailers. This survey indicates that marketers would do well to pair social media and e-mail newsletters. (Read More on Response Magazine)

Marketers are already targeting Generation Z. A small but growing number of companies are starting to target Generation Z – the 69 million high school-age kids and younger who will soon outnumber the millennials before them and they are not just pitching typical teen products such as acne creams and video games. Companies ranging from Macy’s to Campbell Soup to Charles Schwab are talking to investors about their long-term plans to appeal to the post-millennial generation, a group that Pew Research expects to make up 40% of the U.S. workforce by 2020 and ultimately surpass the 75.4 million millennials and 74.9 million baby boomers. Companies have targeted teens for generations, but what makes this effort different is that the majority of the 10 companies talking about Generation Z now are not traditional teen marketers. (Read more on Money.com)

In a sharp rebuke of the FCC’s media ownership review efforts, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia handed down a strongly worded “reminder” to the agency to complete its mandated quadrennial assessment. It also struck down one change the FCC made two years ago when it voted to make television station joint sales agreements attributable toward ownership caps. The court said it was “troubling” that nearly a decade had elapsed since the FCC last completed a review of broadcast ownership rules despite federal law requiring one be done every four years. Because of the ongoing delays, circuit judge Thomas Ambro noted some broadcasters have petitioned the court to wipe all the media regulations off the books. But that would be a step too far he says. The NAB says it “could not be more pleased” with the appeals court’s ruling. “At long last, this opinion directs the FCC to do its job and adopt broadcast ownership rules that reflect the modern world,” NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said. (Read more on Inside Radio)

Spotify is still losing money—but it’s also making some. That’s how several news organizations framed the music streaming service’s released, 2015 financial report. Spotify’s losses rose last year, but the pace of this loss growth slowed enormously to 6.7%. In comparison, its losses ballooned by about 180% from 2013-14. According to a filing made in Luxembourg, Spotify’s revenues rose to $2.1 billion in 2015, almost double the pace of growth from the previous year. Subscriptions made up the bulk of revenues, according to Reuters, while income from advertising nearly doubled to $218 million. Its operating loss in 2015 was $206 million, compared with $184.5 million in 2014. The company attributed its loss to substantial investments in product development, expansion and new personnel. (Read more on Inside Radio)

The two biggest U.S. telecom providers look to be facing off in a fight to own Yahoo. AT&T has submitted an offer to acquire Yahoo’s Internet business, after initially staying on the sidelines, Bloomberg reported. Verizon has been widely considered by Wall Street as the leading candidate to acquire Yahoo. Verizon execs have expressed interest in combining Yahoo’s huge online audience with AOL, which it acquired last year for $4.4 billion. AT&T’s play for Yahoo is likely fueled in part by a desire to keep it out of the hands of its chief rival. Yahoo also could serve as an anchor for AT&T’s ambitions to build up a bigger push into digital-media and streaming video. The telco is planning to launch three new DirecTV over-the-top video services in the U.S. later this year. (Read More on Variety)